Keeping An Eagle Eye On Oil And Gas Pipelines

The three troop into a conference room at the Maker Village, an electronics hardware incubator, full of confidence and eager to talk about their venture. All three have qualifications in aeronautics and aerospace. They had known each other either from their previous jobs or from their college days. And, when Rajeev decided to start a venture, it was but natural for the three to get together and start it.

What was the idea that FeatherDyn had in mind when they started off? “We wanted to solve the case of long-range asset monitoring,” says Rajeev, who dons the hat of the Chief Executive Officer as well. There are nearly 30,000 km of oil and gas pipelines in the country and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board mandates that these pipelines have to be inspected at least once a month, especially for right-of-way. At present, says Rajeev, oil and gas companies employ foot patrols or use helicopters to inspect the pipelines. Both these methods, he adds, are time-consuming and expensive. Once the pipelines are laid, there should not be any activity 5 metre on either side. Read more